Two workers found themselves in a scary situation high up on Raffles City Tower on July 21, 2025, when the gondola they were working on got stuck. Thankfully, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was quickly on the scene and successfully rescued both individuals.
The SCDF received the alert at around 11:20 AM, finding the workers trapped somewhere between the 28th and 29th floors of the tall building. These workers were performing routine resealant work on the building’s outside facade when the weather suddenly changed, prompting an immediate stop-work order. However, while the gondola was being pulled back up, it unexpectedly tilted to one side. This made it too risky to try to straighten it or pull it up, even though all its supporting ropes remained firmly in place.
The SCDF’s specialized Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) quickly got to work, setting up their rescue equipment on the 29th and 30th floors above the stranded gondola.
Both workers were properly wearing their safety harnesses at the time of the incident, which is a good thing. The rescuer secured them, and then they were carefully brought into the safety of the building through windows on the 29th and 30th floors. This whole rescue operation saw the workers moved to safety by about 12:30 PM.
An SCDF paramedic was on hand to check on the workers right away. They were then taken to Raffles Hospital. The good news is that they were in stable condition, and initial checks at the hospital showed they had no injuries.
After the workers were safely inside, the gondola was slowly raised to the roof and finally removed about 15 minutes later, around 2:30 PM.
A spokesperson for Raffles City Singapore, stated that “the workers were performing routine facade resealant work when the weather suddenly changed at about 11:20 AM.” They also confirmed that “An immediate stop-work order was issued.” Explaining the gondola’s behavior, the spokesperson added, “While the gondola was being retracted, it tilted to one side, and it was deemed unsafe to continue straightening and retracting it due to the weather, though all supporting ropes remained intact.”
Raffles City Singapore also confirmed that the workers were wearing safety harnesses when the incident occurred. They mentioned that the gondola had gone through a full safety check just the previous month. The building management will now be working closely with their gondola vendor to investigate exactly what caused the incident.
